The subject invention generally relates to an apparatus for forming batter into a shaped product without using a casing or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for forming a casingless shaped product, such as a casingless sausage and the like, by forming a proteinaceous skin on batter-like materials in order to impart and maintain an initial shape to the batter material. The batter is initially formed and shaped by an extruder which deposits the batter into a denaturing solution. The solution includes ingredients to react with the surface of the batter to form a skin thereon. The apparatus has a shape-modifying assembly to impart a rounded configuration to the end portion of the initially shaped batter material.
Various devices are known for shaping batter materials such as a sausage batter, other food product batters and the like, and stuffing the batter into a casing which can complete the shaping of the batter as desired while maintaining the desired shape during further processing. Often, the further processing includes cooking or other procedure which modifies the consistency of the batter such that it will substantially maintain its desired shape. At least in the case of skinless wieners and other sausage products, each casing is subsequently removed during processing so that the product purchased by the consumer is a so-called casingless product, even though a casing had been used during processing. Such casing removal requires a specially designed apparatus, such as the one illustrated in Koken U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,707.
Various devices have been proposed for forming and processing sausages and the like without using casings. One suggested approach has been to form and cook a food batter within an elongated tube which has end-shaping plugs periodically spaced therewithin, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,890. This requires a continuous inserting of the batter and plugs into the tube and removal of the plugs and cooked batter out of the tube. Another patent, Rogers U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,093, proposes making food products such as skinless sausages through the use of a series of plugs that engage a tube within which the batter is cooked.
Another suggested approach is to use a plurality of hollow molding tubes that are conveyed sequentially through an endless path. Geissbuhler U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,356 proposes the use of a plurality of molds having an open end such that sausage material will expand out of the tube and, this patent suggests, be formed into rounded sausage ends when each molding tube is conveyed through a heating zone, which is shown as a hot water bath.
Suggestions in the art as are exemplified by these patents call for shaping of a batter-like product within a tube or mold and thereafter removing the finally shaped product from the mold, and typically from a plurality of mold cavities or a mold cavity having a plurality of molding locations. Proposals of this general category tend to require complicated apparatus features, often including a complex molding structure having various moving parts and/or multiple components, which at times must be accurately indexed and/or aligned with respect to each other. Other approaches include a casingless arrangement as described in Mally U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,505.
By proceeding in accordance with the present invention, batter such as sausage batter and the like is transformed into a shaped product such as a sausage or the like without having to form that product within a casing and subsequently remove and discard the casing. An apparatus is provided wherein batter is stuffed into and extruded from a shaped cavity. The batter is extruded from the cavity into a denaturing solution in order to thereby form a proteinaceous skin which holds the batter together and imparts a preliminary shape which approximates the desired final shape of the product. The product is further shaped into the desired end product by forming the ends of the extruded batter into a generally rounded configuration. The ends of the batter may be shaped by controlling the diameter of the extrusion orifice during extrusion of the product into the denaturing solution. Alternatively, the ends may be shaped by depositing a ribbon of extruded batter onto a shaping and cutting device which both cuts the extruded batter into link-sized lengths while simultaneously shaping the ends of the batter into the desired configuration. The link-shaped batter material is removed from the denaturing solution in one of at least two ways. In one preferred embodiment, the links are directed through the denaturing tank by directing and controlling a flow of denaturing solution through the tank to carry the links out of the tank along with denaturing solution which may then be recycled. Alternatively, a conveyor-like apparatus is provided to pick up and convey the individual links from the bottom of the tank, through the denaturing solution and out of the tank for further processing by smoking, cooking, and packaging of the product.
The apparatus and method of the invention provide substantial savings in cost and labor, eliminating the need for casings and the equipment typically associated with their use.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for transforming batter into shaped products without utilizing casings or the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus that includes forming at least a portion of a batter originating product with an assembly which does not include a product-conforming mold.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for making casingless food products that can be cooked and then packaged.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for forming casingless products that can be packaged and then aseptically cooked within the package.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sausage making apparatus which is of an especially simplified construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sausage making apparatus which reduces the cost of utilities when compared with conventional casing-utilizing systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for making sausages and the like that does not require any casing removal devices.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.